Closure



Feb. 20, 1923.

H. E. TQWNSEND CLOSURE Filed Sept.

\NVENTOR.

Patent Rab;

HARRY 1E. TOWNSEND, 01E BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

' onosunn.

. Application filed September 3, 1921 Serial No. 498,464.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that- I, HARRY E. Town SEND, a citizen of the'United States, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn,

and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to closures adapted for use in connection with jars, or other similar containers, and has for its"ob ject the provision of a closure, made of glass, or other non-puncturab-le material, that can.

be more readily removed from the container than has heretofore been the case, particularly when the container is sealed in a vacuum, and that can be so removed without injury to the. container, closure or gasket.

The nature of my improvement will be best understood as described in connection with the drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of a container and closure made according to my invent-ion, the container being shown partly in section, or rather'bro-ken away, and the closure being shown partly in section on one side; Fig. 2, a similar elevation showing the gasket displaced from sealing position; and Fig. 3, a plan view of the closure viewed from its lower side. i

A is a container having an inwardly tapering mouth as shown at a, and an approximately cylindrical surface I), below the taper. "If- B is the closure, provided with a peripheral flange 0, adapted to extend over, and

.rest on, the top of the container when sealed thereon. Extending down. from. the flange c, is a cylindrical portion 01., which is adapted to enter the mouth of the container for a considerable distance, preferably, a dis-- tance equal to the depth of the tapered portion a. Below this portion d, is a further cylindrical extension 6, of smaller diameter, at the top of which is formed a shoulder 7. C is a gasket, of compressible material. located on the lower cylindrical extension 6,

and against the shoulder" f, of the closure.

'lhisrgasket when positioned on the closure, and uncompressed, is of slightly larger diameter than the cylindrically walled portion I), of the container, so that when the closure is forced down into the mouth of the container the gasket is laterally compressed in passing over the tapered portion a. and when finally seated against the cylindrical surface 6, remains in a state of lateral compression between the cylindrical surface 6, of the container, and the cylindrical extension 6, of the closure.

The construction of closure and container as above described, is the same as the construction described in my pending application for Letters Patent Serial No. 274,071, filed January 30th, 1919, and is cmered by the claims therein. The novel feature of this invention consists in 'the combination with the features above described of the notch g, in the flange of the closure, the function and advantage of which will be hereafter pointed out.

' When a container is sealed with a closure made of glass or other non-pun'cturable material, considerable difficulty is usually experienced in removing the closure if there is a considerable degree of vacuum in the container. 7 This is especially true when the closure is large, and presents a. considerable area against which. atmospheric pressure acts to resist an effort to lift. the closure from its seat on thecontainer. This difliculty is effectually overcome in the present improvement. by providing the closure with a notch 9. extending down through the flange 0, and upper. cylindrical portion 03, of the closure. Through this notch, any suitable'pointed implement can be inserted to puncture or dislodge the gasket, whereby air will enter the container and overcome the vacuum, after which, the closure can be readily removed.

It is difficult, however, to puncture a gasket in this manner unless the gasket can also be displaced from sealing position. This is so, because, due to the elasticity of the gasket and the compression to which it is subjected, an aperture made by a puncturing implement closes the instant the implement is removed, and beforean appreciable amount, of air has been admitted to the container. In my present improvement it will be observed that the inner wall of the notch g, coincides with the gasket seating surface on the lower extension 0, of the closure. thus exposing the entire width of the gasket to the action of a dislodging implement inserted through the notch. It will'also be observed that the seating surfaces of the container and closure, between which the gasket is held in lateral compression, are approximately parallel, and that the inner wall of the container below the seating surface is substantially continuous therewith. With this construction, a blunt pointed implement D, can be inserted through the notch g, and the gasket easily pushed down to the'position shown in Fig. 2, thus unsealing the container, and it will be readily understood that this can be done without injury to the container, closure or gasket, by reason of which, the parts remain in condition for re-use if that is desired.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

' 1. A sealing closure for containers having an outwardly extending flange adapted to extend over the mouth of the container, a downwardly extending cylindrical portion adapted to enter the mouth of the container and having a downward cylindrical extension of less diameter and an annular shoulder formed betweenthe broad and narrow portions to form an abutment for a gasket fitted on the narrower cylindrical portion, in combination with a gasket fitted on the narrower cylindrical portion below the 'said shoulder, and a container having an inwardly tapering mouth and a substantially cylindricalseating surface for a gasket below the tapered mouth and having its inner surface below the gasket seat substantially continuous with said seat, and a notch or kerf in the flange and broader cylindrical portion of the closure through which access may be had to the gasket to push the gasket along the inner surface of the container to break the seal.

2. A sealing closure for containers having an outwardly extending flange and a downwardly extending cylindrical portion adapted to enter the mouth of the container, in.

- of the closure through which access may be had to the gasket to push the gasket along the inner surface of the container to break the seal.

3. A sealing closure for containers having a substantially cylindrical seating surface for a gasket, in combination with a container having a substantially cylindrical gasket seating surface, a sealing gasket positioned between the cylindrical surfaces of the closure and container and having a portion of its outer face accessible for pushing the gasket inwardly from between the said cylindrical surfaces, the closure and container being so formed inwardly from the gasket seating surfaces as not to obstruct the inward movement of the gasket.

4. The combination with a container and a closure therefor, of a sealing member adapted to form a seal between opposed faces on the container and closure and having a portion of its outer face accessible for pushing the sealing member inwardly from between the opposed faces, the said opposed faces being so formed asnot to obstruct the movement inwardly of the sealing member.

HARRY E. TOWNSEND. 

